It is reported that Japanese company Nitta is developing the application of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) using its patented technology Namd, which uniformly composites carbon nanotubes (CNT) on the surface of carbon fibers.

The characteristic of this technology is that it can achieve molded products that are superior to traditional CFRP in terms of strength, heat resistance, and lightweight performance. It is developed and used as an advanced material that can be widely applied to aircraft components such as engines and propellers. When CNT is composite into CFRP material to improve strength, it is generally added to the resin material. But this technology is very time-consuming, and adding CNT will make the resin harder and reduce its flexibility.

Nitta's patented technology decomposes carbon nanotubes one by one without using dispersants, and attaches them to the surface of carbon fibers to form a uniform thin film. It can endow materials with excellent properties of carbon nanotubes without affecting the strength of carbon fibers and the flexibility of resins. In addition, surface coating can reduce the amount of carbon nanotubes used and achieve higher strength.